US President Biden has met with aid workers and local authorities in the Florida site where an apartment complex collapsed last week. Later today, Joe Biden and his wife Jill will also speak to relatives of the deceased residents in Surfside, near Miami.
Biden, speaking to aid workers, recalled the car accident in 1972 that killed his first wife and their 13-month-old daughter. He now compared the work of the first responders with that of the firefighters who were then at the car wreck and thanked them.
After meeting with the Florida governor, Biden said the federal government will pay all state costs for the bailout for a month. The Democratic president told Republican Governor DeSantis that it is good for the country to see that politicians from both parties are working together. “This is about life and death,” Biden said. “Everyone is doing what needs to be done.”
145 residents missing
The death toll from the collapse now stands at 18. Rescuers are still hoping to get people out of the rubble alive, even though that hasn’t happened since several hours after the disaster last week. The operation is now temporarily halted because the debris is shifting and it is too dangerous to continue searching.
The cause of the collapse of the Champlain Towers South complex is not yet clear. Three years ago, however, an engineer warned of serious structural damage to the twelve-storey building. 145 residents are still missing.
–
